Funeral held for nurse in Kate Middleton hoax call

Dec. 17, 2012
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This is an undated handout photo of the late nurse Jacintha Saldanha of King Edward VII hospital, provided by Saldanha's family in Shirva north of Mangalore, India after Saldanha was found dead in central London. / AP

by USA TODAY

by USA TODAY

SHIRVA, India - Family and friends of the nurse found hanging in her room days after she had been duped by a hoax call from an Australian radio station about the pregnant Duchess of Cambridge have gathered in a church in south India for her funeral.

Jacintha Saldanha's body was kept at her husband's home in the town of Shirva for a few hours Monday before being taken to the Catholic church for a prayer service and burial.

Saldanha's husband and two children had accompanied the body from London where her death is being investigated as an apparent suicide. She left three suicide notes, the BBC reports.

Saldanha, 46, answered the phone at a London hospital when the DJs called pretending to be Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles seeking information about the duchess. Saldanha was tricked into transferring the call to another nurse, who revealed private details about the duchess' condition.

Saldhana's husband, Benedict Barboza, and her two children accompanied her closed casket to the church, along with hundreds of mourners, including religious leaders and politicians. Additional security was deployed to accommodate the crowd, according to the BBC.

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